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If You Like The Shins and Lite-Brites...

The legal drinking age in the U.S. remains unchanged over the past two decades, but the debate is back. These Days speaks with advocates on both sides of the debate whom have different perspectives on

Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega can be extradited to France when he completes his U.S. prison sentence on Sept. 9. Noriega has been serving time for a 1992 drug trafficking conviction.

An advisory measure to ask voters whether the U.S. should withdraw immediately from Iraq is a step closer to February's ballot. After two hours of impassioned debate the State Assembly approved the le

A letter from a New York hedge fund invites readers to "capitalize from the carnage," in the subprime mortgage industry, according to a Web site for investors. That means investing in mortgages at fire-sale prices. And plenty of investors are looking to profit from problems in the mortgage industry.

In Russia, 10 people have been arrested in the death of the journalist Anna Politkovskaya, Russia's top prosecutor said Monday. But he suggested that someone outside Russia masterminded the killing.

Heart muscle doesn't regenerate when it's damaged, one reason heart attacks are so debilitating. A dream of researchers is to build new heart muscle using transplanted cardiac stem cells. Scientists at the University of Washington have taken a potentially important step in that direction, using embryonic stem cells as their starting material.

But Kernan, who lives in the shadow of his now deceased but still famous sports announcer dad, is cruising on autopilot and has been unable to find a voice that his editors think sings. Then he meets a homeless man who calls himself Champ (Samuel L. Jackson). The man claims to have been boxing champion Bob Satterfield. Kernan can't believe his good fortune. Everyone thinks Satterfield is dead but here he is and if Kernan can play his cards right, there's a cover-making story to be mined. But what happens after this chance encounter tests Kernan in ways that he could have never anticipated, and raises questions about about journalistic ethics and responsibility, as well as about the relationships of fathers and sons.

As a longtime action junkie myself, I can attest to the fact that we're a forgiving lot. Give us action that really sings on the screen and we'll even forgive a lame plot and wooden performances. Just make our jaws drop in amazement at the on-screen action--or even at one action set piece--and we'll be lining up for seconds and buying the DVDs. That's why a standard Asian actioner is generally leaps and bounds above even a decent American action film--because Asian directors know how to make action films for action fans. People like John Woo and Jackie Chan understand that action films are essentially like musicals, only the choreographed numbers involve violence instead of song and dance. They also understand that when you're shooting an action scene, you need to let it play out with a good amount of wide shots and as little editing as possible. The action or kinetic energy should come primarily from the performers not from the film editor. Overcutting in an action film is usually a sign that the action is badly done or that the director doesn't have confidence that the action can carry the scene.

Turkish police say there is a growing black-market trade in the country of U.S.-issued weapons from neighboring Iraq. The Turkish government has said it has found high numbers of weapons that appear to be from the United States in the hands of captured Kurdish separatists.